I found this article in the San Diego Union this morning and it gave me a chuckle so I thought I would share.
San Diego Union: The Rancho Bernardo Inn, a luxury resort with three pools, two restaurants, a spa and a 
golf course, is offering rooms this summer for as little as $19 a night.
There's just one catch. The room comes without pillows, sheets, towels, toiletries - or a bed... or light bulbs
From Aug. 16 to 31, the Rancho Bernardo Inn is offering steep discounts to customers willing to bring their own toilet paper and sleep on the floor.
Under the unusual pricing scheme called the "Survivor Package," guests can lower the standard $219 room rate with each amenity they give up. Going without breakfast, the honor bar, air-conditioning and pillows saves $80. Bringing your own sheets saves an additional $20, while the room rate drops $20 more if you also give up lights.
The lowest price is $19, which buys a room that's had the headboard unscrewed from the wall and the mattress carted away by hotel staff, though they will leave behind a small tent.
The zany promotion is a creative way of weathering a grueling downturn in the hotel business, said John Gates, Rancho Bernardo Inn's general manager.
"It's our belief once we get families here on a 'Survivor Package,' they'll come back on a non-'Survivor Package,' " said Gates of the 265-acre property. "It's our way of getting people here that might not normally come."
As business and leisure travelers cut back on spending, the hospitality industry is struggling.
This spring, the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Orange County was seized by Citigroup when the resort couldn't make payments on its debt, and the chic W Hotel in downtown San Diego is now owned by its lender.
A dispute between the owners of the Aviara resort in Carlsbad and its manager, the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, is in arbitration. The owners claimed the hotel was not being run in a cost-effective manner and sought to oust the manager.
For the third quarter of this year, PKF Hospitality Research is forecasting that revenue per available room, a hotel industry profitability indicator, will be down more than 25 percent compared with last year.
Gates said revenue at Rancho Bernardo Inn isn't down quite as much as that, but the hotel is experimenting with other promotions, including the Kids Rule Parents Rule, which features movie nights by the pool, a Wii lounge and pizza party.
But it's the Survivor Package that's creating a buzz.
Many hotels and resorts are trying to lure customers by offering discounts or all-inclusive packages that waive parking and resort fees in an effort to get "heads in beds," the ultimate goal of a hotelier.
Even without the bed, Rancho Bernardo Inn may still make money if guests eat at the restaurants, book spa services or pay for a round of golf, said Jerry Morrison, a hotel consultant in San Diego.
And guests may also return, next time paying full price. "It's a very clever approach to selling hotel rooms in a terrible economy," Morrison said.
It takes about 90 minutes for hotel staff to disassemble a room for a $19-a-night guest.
Out go the light bulbs, except for one in the bathroom for safety, along with the fuse for the A/C. About two dozen customers, mostly families with young children, took up the hotel on its offer of a bedless room the first time the "Survivor Package" was offered in early June.
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